Our journey has been a time of great discovery in spite of all the challenges that come with epilepsy. My son is my inspiration and amazes me everyday with his faith in God. We are preparing for surgery soon and know that this is our answered prayer. We surrender to an Awesome God!
I gave my life to Christ on December 13th, 2009. I was so eager & hungry for Him, ready to run my race hand and hand w/ Jesus Christ. Two weeks later, I was getting a routine flu vaccine, my first as an adult. I collapsed soon after and what followed was me not being able to hold up my own head, unable to walk on my own and hospitalization after hospitalization. After a visit to Mayo Clinic later that year, I was diagnosed with a rare autonomic health condition called POTS Syndrome. I lost my 14 year career in medical sales for a highly… Read more »
I said I could give God everything, put Him above all else, and love Him first and foremost… But in my heart, I knew He really came second. My husband and my children came first, and no matter how much I tried to understand or change my heart, I couldn’t fathom putting even God before them. Oh but the work He was doing in me! He took me on a journey, and I wouldn’t change ANY part of it now! The things/people that I held higher than I held God, were exactly what He used to get my attention. His plan was and is perfect,… Read more »
so my story started in February 2013 when me and my husband Ryan we were at church when the pastor asked us to take a tithe challenge from God. the pastor was asking us to surrender are money to God and see what God was going to do. my husband and I agreed to take the challenge, at that point my husband was working in Maryland and I was a stay at home mom in Ohio with a 3 year old daughter and our newborn son and as of that moment everything was fine we were trying to figure out if we were going to… Read more »
so my story started in February 2013 when me and my husband Ryan we were at church when the pastor asked us to take a tithe challenge from God. the pastor was asking us to surrender are money to God and see what God was going to do. my husband and I agreed to take the challenge, at that point my husband was working in Maryland and I was a stay at home mom in Ohio with a 3 year old daughter and our newborn son and as of that moment everything was fine we were trying to figure out if we were going to… Read more »
Winter Beginnings Georgia winters are mild, but the trees still lose their leaves, the light softens, and the world around seems to be resting. It has become my favorite season to be outside, and in February of last year, my husband and I went to my parents’ farm for the weekend. I woke early on Saturday, and as I stepped onto the wooden floor, I felt all of the tendons in my feet. They were sharp and taut and prickly. Soon after, my right leg turned inward and my back began to bend. For most of the morning, I sat near the window and watched… Read more »
Wait….this is the word the Lord had me write on my stone at the 2015 IF conference in February. At the end of March while at Women of Joy He used beautiful Angela Thomas to confirm the word….wait. What does this word mean for me? It means that I WAIT on finishing my college degree. Just 2 semesters from graduating with my Bachelors in Education the Lord has commanded me to…WAIT. Wait and stay at home with the 3 youngest of my 6 kids, a 4 year old and 2 year old twins. Wait…I have submitted to this word but with reluctance. I want to… Read more »
Enter Hairspray I used to get high. I cannot tell you how many chemicals were floating around that room, but if someone would have lit a match, I’m sure the entire building would have exploded. I used to get high off of aerosol hair spray. Well, maybe not literally, but I’m sure it affected my brain. At least that’s my excuse for life. To this day the smell of an aerosol hair spray takes me back – backstage that is – waiting for my name to be called so I can sashay across the stage at Miss Kentucky. I can still feel the spotlight all… Read more »
Sometimes God asks us to do things that just don’t make sense on the outside. I’m a bit of a skeptic at heart so it is very rare that I utter the words “God told me to do this…..” or “I feel like God is leading me this way….”. It’s just the way He made my brain. But thankfully God is smarter and wiser than I am, not to mention persistent. Seven years ago as a single working mother of two children I found myself building a photography business out of financial need. It wasn’t planned, but it did prosper. And soon my identity became… Read more »
Addiction. Addiction isn’t something that we as a society talk about. We tend, more so, to shy away because it’s a sticky thing to talk about. It’s sticky because it involves real people, with real feelings, experiencing a really dark thing together-and each situation is unique to those real people. Addiction is dark and twisty. It takes the light from a person, slowly at first, and then all at once. These eyes that once looked at you with such life, just look empty. You want to go to them, shake them, and beg them to really see themselves. You want to go, grab them, and… Read more »
I’m normally not a verbal processor, but it felt right to record this one for you. You can view it here, on YouTube: https://youtu.be/muGRg-oYzRE Thank you for inviting people to share their stories – I can’t wait to see how God uses them to encourage and inspire others! – Crystal
On August 12, 2011, I was given a second chance at life through the gift of a selfless family who chose to donate their precious daughters organs after she suffered a brain aneurysm. Her beautiful pink lungs were the answer to many prayers and petitions before God. You see, I was only 38 at the time I was placed on oxygen and told I needed a lung transplant. My two sons were only 6 and 4. It was a season in my life where I came to depend on God and surrender my plan to His will like never before. As my body grew weaker… Read more »
I think my college years were where the major breaking point happened. My roots were growing deeper in Jesus and with each step forward, I could feel God chipping away at the old me; molding me and shaping me into a girl after His heart. Sometimes (okay, most of the time) that re-shaping process really hurt. It was tough but needed to be done. I remember one season of my life were I wasn’t particularly keen to letting God have all control. I wasn’t convinced His plans were better than my plans quite yet. A friend of mine during the last semester of my junior… Read more »
It was the eve of the 100th day of school. My twelfth 100th day celebration. This was my prayer at 3:25am Father you are calling me as never before. I lie awake looking and listening for you. You are calling me home to be with our blessings. I am delighting myself in you. ️️️️praying you will grant me the desires of my heart. “A step of faith” my mother said tonight. It sounds so simple and I know with you guiding my steps it will be just that…a step. So now what? I step out and you lead: me to homeschool ? What curriculum ?… Read more »
This afternoon I watched my husband as my husband drove his pickup out our driveway in Jonestown, TX on his way to join others doing mud outs for the folks in San Marcos. Homes suddenly filled overnight with mud and water. My husband, Tom is a man who sees the need and responds no matter what else is before him. So how is his story mine? Five years ago we moved to Texas from CO to be closer to at least two of our four children who lived in Austin and Houston. Tom was recently retired, so he decided to build our house here and… Read more »
I have been married to an alcoholic for 18 years. Last August he left me and our 4 children for his addiction and for another young woman. I have felt sheer agony, deep pain, abandonment, shame, and anger. One thing that has remained solid in the midst of all of these emotions. I know my God loves me and is for me. Two weeks before my life fell apart I prayed to God from the bathroom of our hotel on our 18 year wedding anniversary trip. My prayer was simple. Something is wrong God. Something is wrong. I prayed that He would reveal it and… Read more »
My mom is an alcoholic. I feel like that should be enough groundwork for my anything story but realistically there is way more to it than that. All the things that turned her into an alcoholic made her a difficult mother long before she ever had a drink. Loving someone who is an alcoholic, a mother who is incapable of investing in you in a normal motherly way, is painful. The emotional absence of a parent who is physically there can burn you up from the inside, like something that is irremovably stuck in your chest is on fire and it never goes out, it… Read more »
I consider myself a typical 52 year old wife and mother. I have a wonderful husband of 33 years, and three adult children. My son John and his wife are expecting another little boy this year and my five year old grandson is the joy of our lives. My daughter Anna is 22 and an accomplished artist attending art school. My daughter Georgia is graduating from High School and moving forward with her plans to travel to Mexico and beyond serving in missions. Life has a pleasant cadence and my heart knows peace. Recently I had taken a job driving school bus. Challenging and rewarding…. Read more »
January of 2009, I was diagnosed with a rare retinal disease that would slowly rob me of what I consider the most precious of all 5 senses… my vision. I was devastated, felt betrayed, alone. I was newly out of Nursing School (a dream come true), we were coming up on our first wedding Anniversary, and I had life figured out… Until life as I knew it was turned upside down. I quickly found myself feeling helpless and desperate. I could no longer drive and had lost all independence and integrity. How does a strong, career focused, independent young woman continue? Life went on, but… Read more »
Our son was born 5 weeks early. I was on bed rest, I took the injections, I held my legs together as tightly as I could… But he still came early. We held him for an hour but it seemed like 6 minutes. Then they whisked him away to the NICU. He was put on airway support and IV nutrition support. I couldn’t hold him or feed him and instead of getting better over the next few days, he seemed to get worse. His doctors and nurses were worried and I could tell. I’m a nurse too. I knew the looks, the things that were… Read more »